Sassy Vegan Shortbread Cookies

This Sassy Vegan Shortbread Cookie recipe is easy to make and has lots of possibilities for customizing. The buttery vegan cookies pack a generous helping of Vegan Butter with just a touch of vanilla extract for a delectable flavor and a satisfying crunch.

1) Whisk together your flours

Preheat oven to 350F (177C). In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and the arrowroot flour.

2) Beat the Vegan Butter

In another medium mixing bowl, beat the Vegan Butter for about 30 seconds.

3) Mix in the confectioners sugar

Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds. Please note: It's important to measure the confectioners sugar non-packed. That is, don't compress it into the measuring cup.

4) Mix the ingredients into a dough

Mix half of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until smooth. Add the last half of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

5) Form your cookies

To use with a cookie press

Place the dough into a cookie press and press into form on a cookie sheet. To ensure that the cookies stick to the cookie sheet after being pressed out of the cookie press, do not line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dust the cookies with course granulated sugar. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. If you're using two cookie sheets in the oven at the same time, be sure to switch the sheets on the oven racks half way in between the baking duration. Remove from the oven then let them cool on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. If you didn't dust the cookies with granulated sugar before baking, you may want to dust them with powdered sugar after they have cooled.

To roll and cut with a cookie cutter

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle that's ¾ inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and place the cookies on a cookie sheet. Dust the cookies with course granulated sugar. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. If you're using two cookie sheets in the oven at the same time, be sure to switch the sheets on the oven racks half way in between the baking duration. If you didn't dust the cookies with granulated sugar before baking, you may want to dust them with powdered sugar after they have cooled.

Vegan Shortbread Cookie Variations

Drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate
Depress the middle of each cookie with your thumb and place a dollop of cherry jam in the center of each cookie before baking.
When the cookies have just come out of the oven, grate dark chocolate over them.
Substitute 1 teaspoon of lemon extract instead of vanilla extract for Lemon Shortbread Cookies.

Not Good

This cookies were the worst cookies I have had. When I put them in the oven they never cooked. As they cooled, they crumbled like sand; My money was just wasted. Thanks for nothing

Was this review helpful to you?

January 08, 2016

Kasia

Rating

5.0

Excellent cookies, very easy to make

Very easy to make, not many ingredients, and taste wonderful. I'm making a double batch this time for my daughter's 2nd birthday party :)

Was this review helpful to you?

December 23, 2015

PN

Rating

5.0

Best Shortbread Cookie. EVER.

Best cookies ever. I made a double batch. They hold their shape during baking and don't spread at all. Not too sweet and so flaky and buttery. I made half thumbprints with apricot preserve and they really rocked. Couldn't stop eating them. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!

Was this review helpful to you?

July 17, 2015

Jenni

Rating

4.0

Made two batches, one with lemon and another with vanilla, both excellent. This recipe is a keeper.

Awesome

I made these with some modifications. For an Indian inspired taste, I added 1/2 c coconut flour and 1/4 c coconut oil and flavored with ginger and cardamom extracts and sprinkled the cookies with coconut. They came out great - buttery and delicate. I added saffron icing which made it very decadent. Thanks.

Was this review helpful to you?

May 14, 2014

Cait

Rating

5.0

Gluten free! And other things.

I just made this (with a few adjustments) and I love this recipe. It seems quite versatile and very forgiving.

First of all, I only had one Earth Balance buttery stick left so I used that and about 1/2 c coconut oil (the cookies do not taste anything like coconut, FWIW).

For GF flour, I subbed 1/2 c almond flour, 1 c all purpose GF flour blend (Namaste Foods), and 1/4 c sweet white rice flour (mochiko). GF flours tend to absorb less moisture than wheat flour, but mochiko is very absorbent which is why I used it (and I used the almond flour cause I have a LOT of it haha). Also, I did not have tapioca or arrowroot so I subbed potato starch. Did not seem to have issues with that.

The dough was very soft when I rolled it out (and used a cute, crimped-edge heart-shape cookie cutter) and had to be handled gingerly. This might be because my kitchen was warm so that oil and butter were quite soft, almost melted, resulting in a very soft dough. I used a spatula to get the cookies off the cutting board and transfer them to the cookie sheet and they turned out lovely.

I don't know if it was because my version was gluten free or what, but at 350 mine were overdone after about 12 min. I would have preferred to bake them the full 16-20 min at a lower temp because they got just a scoche overdone (this could be my oven too, but I haven't had problems before). So if you're doing GF you may want to to lower the temp to 325 or 300 and bake longer, or keep a close eye on them!

Also I highly recommend dusting with granulated sugar prior to baking, but that's just me. I forgot and dusted them with confectioner's sugar after but I prefer the taste of granulated sugar :)

Storage

Hi there, I haven't tried these yet but wondering if they can keep frozen/stored? and for how long?
Then would you just thaw them out the night before?
thx

Owner's reply

Hi JK! I haven't frozen this dough before but due to the high ratio of fat, I assume it would freeze well. I think you're on the right track with leaving them out the night before to thaw out. Let me know how it works out if you give it a shot!

I have a question...

I have not tried any of the recipe's because I only found this page today. I am wondering if these Short bread cookies can be baked in a ball with a chocolate covered Almond (for example) inside & not flattened? For those who can indulge in chocolate etc...any help would be great. Thanks

Owner's reply

Great question lovestobake! I don't think these shortbread cookies (or any shortbread for that matter) would be able to be formed into a ball and have that shape remain intact during baking. This is because shortbread has a large ratio of fat to water in the dough that makes the gluten strands "short", hence the name. This means that the gluten strands are blocked by the fat which results in a dry, crispy, crumbly texture. This large portion of fat likes to melt with the cookie dough during baking which makes shortbread almost impossible to use for freeform pastry.

This is why many shortbread cookie recipes are actually baked in baking dishes. This ensures the dough remains intact. I love your presentation idea though! Perhaps you could cut the dough into flat discs with the chocolate almond in the middle. Assuming the chocolate stays on the almond during baking, it might just work!

Fantastic shortbread

These are really tasty! I used a biscuit cutter to get different shapes and used the grated chocolate idea. The coffee idea someone suggested sounds good too. I haven't got a flatmate or any arrowroot flour - I used a little corn flour instead. However, I think this made the dough harder to roll.
Superb recipe!

Other Info

Yum!

The texture was so nice! I ommitted the arrowroot flower because I didn't have any on me and added some ground coffee beans to make it have that yummy coffee flavor I love and they came out just delicious!

Was this review helpful to you?

November 20, 2010

Meg

Suh-weeeet!

Really lovely! I added some lemon extract and omitted the arrowroot because one of my bastard flatmates stole it, and they turned out lovely nonetheless! Quick and easy and wonderful :)

Owner's reply

So glad these turned out for you Meg! And that flatmate can wallow in their arrowroot powder that you didn't even need. Hah!

"I made this butter 10 weeks ago for the first time. I followed the step and the final product did not look appealing. However, I put it in the fridge not expecting much. I could not be any more surprised. The butter was amazing; my husbands and daughters were so impressed. The second time, I used a pestle and mortar to grind the soy lecithin granules to a powder form, added 2 tablespoons of aquafaba and a pinch of turmeric for colour and it turned an amazing butter into a very creamy and special butter. I love it! I have had great success with using this butter for vegan croissants, cakes, cookies, brownies, brioche, wholemeal bread and the latest frying French toast. I have quadrupled the recipe and it still amazing. The most amazing part is that the butter..."

"Hi There,
I should have written this sooner, because this recipe has helped me out so much! I used this recipe to make vegan white chocolate cake gems for a wedding. As a previously serious non-vegan baker, I know the inns and outs of vegan and "regular" baking and know that getting the exact flavor, texture, etc. can be tough, but this recipe is suitable for any white chocolate substitute. It can be melted, made into chocolate chips, anything! I highly recommend!"

"I made this butter 10 weeks ago for the first time. I followed the step and the final product did not look appealing. However, I put it in the fridge not expecting much. I could not be any more surprised. The butter was amazing; my husbands and daughters were so impressed. The second time, I used a pestle and mortar to grind the soy lecithin granules to a powder form, added 2 tablespoons of aquafaba and a pinch of turmeric for colour and it turned an amazing butter into a very creamy and special butter. I love it! I have had great success with using this butter for vegan croissants, cakes, cookies, brownies, brioche, wholemeal bread and the latest frying French toast. I have quadrupled the recipe and it still amazing. The most amazing part is that the butter..."

"Hi There,
I should have written this sooner, because this recipe has helped me out so much! I used this recipe to make vegan white chocolate cake gems for a wedding. As a previously serious non-vegan baker, I know the inns and outs of vegan and "regular" baking and know that getting the exact flavor, texture, etc. can be tough, but this recipe is suitable for any white chocolate substitute. It can be melted, made into chocolate chips, anything! I highly recommend!"